9. Plusses, Minuses and a Valuable Lesson Learned

I know you’ve been on the edge of your seat waiting to hear about the results of the PET scan. So here we go. The scan showed exactly what the previous three and a half years of scans have showed. Widespread lesions of the prostate cancer in my skeletal and lymph systems. On the plus side, even though my PSA has gone up and down during the past three and a half years, the cancer has not spread into any organs, or any further into bones or lymph. It’s just hanging out. On the minus side, my PSA is back up again so there needs to be a change in treatment. Soon.

I met with my Oncologist at Dana Farber last week and was presented with 4 options moving forward. I’ve decided to enroll in a very small study which combines a proven drug along with testosterone injections. Sounds counterintuitive since prostate cancer uses testosterone for its fuel source. But in lab and mice studies somehow the combination is working and killing cancer cells. This is not a trial with a new drug, but a study combining two already widely used substances.

On the prognosis side I’m already forty-two months into a journey that could last up to forty-eight months on the low end and seventy-two months on the high end. Since the cancer has not spread into any organs I’m excited to travel more. In the next eight months I have trips planned to Florida, Vieques, India, Bali and a kayak trip in British Columbia to paddle with the Orcas. I understand things can change at any time and I remain mindful of my condition.

Each time there is a change to my condition and a different drug or treatment plan my Urologist refers to it as “another chapter”. I feel that’s a good way to look at it. Who knows, maybe that could be a great outline for chapters of a book.

Today’s post is short. I’d like to end with an insight to the experience I had in the PET scan trailer in September. Remember I was the last appointment of the day, Friday the 13th, and I crossed paths with the patient ahead of me, a fellow Yogi. It took me a few days to make sense of it. How two Yogis end up in the cancer screening machine on the same day at the same time. What are the chances of that happening? Well, thinking it through I accepted the truth that we were adversaries on some level over the past twenty-five years. There may have been a little jealousy, resentment and indignation between us. The lesson became clearer as I contemplated it more and more. What value is there in jealousy, resentment and indignation? We all know how this existence ends. Death. Death may come in different forms but the impermanence of life is unavoidable. As adversaries, we ended up in the PET scan machine at the same time. And it’s now clear that being adversarial is not worth anything. There is no value in jealousy, resentment and indignation, but it took the PET scan machine experience to make that lesson crystal clear. I’m happy for the experience. We all know how this existence ends, so why not be kind to one another?

Be well. We’ll talk soon. Peace, David